A vote Thursday afternoon on the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act reflected bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. The bill moved swiftly through the House, passing 390–23.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) set the pace and expects the Senate to vote “in an expeditious fashion.”
The bill would reform SEC restrictions on running ads, and aims to help entrepreneurs raise capital. Some of those SEC regulations date back to the 1960s.
“It is a welcome sign that we can put our differences aside and work together to produce results to help boost the economy and get people back to work,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told the Associated Press.
The bill increases the shareholder cap on public offerings from 500 to 1000 before investors have to register with the SEC. Soliciting is also expected to open up by permitting “crowdfunding” which increases the opportunity for smaller investments from a greater variety of sources.
The net impact of the JOBS bill “is something that you measure later for down the road,” House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy told reporters this week. “We know there are jobs that aren’t being created because of the red tape,” he added.
President Obama “is encouraged to see there is common ground between his approach and some of the proposals” the White House said on Monday.
Despite bipartisan support in the House, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saw the proposal as “so meager” in comparison to the transportation funding bills circulating in Congress.
“We’re taking pieces at a time,” key sponsor Rep Patrick McHenry said Tuesday. “One thing I’ve found inside this place is that big bills just collapse. So let’s just focus on small business, that’s the core of job creation.”
“Let’s do a piece of that, and then we’ll come back.”